My Cavi came with the base model cluster (no tach) I found a Cavi tach cluster at the junkyard, but I figured I better pick up two just to make sure I get a good one. Of course, the first one I tried the odometer didn't light up. Second one it worked perfectly, everything. So I was pretty happy. I did some searching and apparently the lighting is a common issue with these clusters.
Then, I realize a Sunfire cluster will swap in... I set out on a mission to find one.. Found only one at the local yard, I figured, eh.. It should be good. Car only had 70k miles. Of course, the bloody odometer didn't light up. I tried to disassemble the cluster and ended up breaking it (Found out the hard way you can't pull the needles.. 90% of the time they have self-combustion attributes)
Swap back in the stock tach cluster and went on my way until I found another.. Which was today. I found 3. Bought all 3. Wouldn't you friggen know it.. First one, all but one light was out. Second one, worked perfectly after a light tap on the lens. I'm kinda hesitant to pull it back out and try the third but I figure what the hell.. That one, odometer lit up but only one other. Swap back in the second one.. Odometer is now off.. GODDAMNIT. Tap it a few times, still no go
Soooo... I've started my project of replacing bulbs.. Drilling the circuit board from the back and installing new bulbs beside the originals. Using 22ga wire to solder to the original bulb joints on the circuit board.
I had to figure out a creative way to get a bulb into the odometer bucket, here is what I did... (This is my junk cluster I ruined in trial and error.. still serves a purpose!) I used a 3mm red LED (I think is what it is) I sanded the lens on the LED to have better light diffusion.. I test fired it up and made sure it lit up the bucket exactly like OEM. I can do this same method on an assembled cluster with a LONG 9/64" drill bit. Getting it to down in there should pose a slight issue, but a steady hand with some small screwdrivers it won't be too bad. If the original bulbs ever decide they want to work again, they will still be there. lol
It's too cold outside to get my soldering iron, so I'll be saving the soldering work until tomorrow, and hopefully then I'll have a working Sunfire cluster.
Hey, grab me a pic of the whole circuit board if ya could. I have a winter project I might do. I wanna put a boost gaug in the empty spot between the tach numbers and speedometer if it shall fit
WOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!! man i have to say u have had the worst luck with those things but it sounds like what ur gonna will work. i myself had a recent chance to get mad at my gauges for the fact that i got in a rush and pulled the needles off and well that was a bad idea, tell u what one thing id tell ppl is never, never pull off the needles unless u absolutly have to and also if u do u will have a good chance of having issues. Like for instance with me last the other day all i was wanting to do is put some self lighting white gauges, well i didnt know at first that u could just slide the thing over the needles. yea well i ended up having to take the whole thing apart and put the pins that connect the needles to the motors them selves back in the motors. and that was a pain in my a$$.
Oh well i did manage to get lucky and get it fixed thank god lol i thought i was screwed. well either way good luck and i cant wait to see what it looks like when ur done with the lights
Well, it's working, but I'm not satisfied yet.. There is a slight hot spot around 20mph, which the camera (my iPhone) makes look worse than it is. I may remove one bulb or add a few more, I'm not entirely sure yet, but my odometer is working!
In progress...
Here is the finished LED installed, I drilled the hole using a long drill bit and some patience and a screwdriver to press it into the hole. Works perfectly!
I like the Sunfire cluster WAY more than the Cavi cluster! Well worth the time it took to fix...
Here is a pic of the backside of an unmodified cluster...
exactly what im doing this week with 3 cavy clusters. lol.hope mine work
"A goal without a plan is just a wish"
Just wanna let you know that on 2k+ cars the mileage is stored in the BCM and on the older ones its stored in the cluster.
Shouldve just done the ole beat-it-like-it-owes you money trick to get the mileage to light up.
I'm not sure what you're trying to say? My car is an '01 and my mileage is accurately displayed.
Beating it only gives you temporary gratification... They go out again... This is a permanent fix.
eventually the bulb burns out so the odometer reads very very dim so u cna barely see it tduring the day, at night, not a chance.
"A goal without a plan is just a wish"
Hell least u guys can read urs, mine is all scrambled until u push it just right lol
Finally finished.. Added one more LED to the odometer (it was kinda dim on the left side.. I didn't realize until after I tried it with the single LED mounted in the center that the odometer is kind of offset to the left a bit) to make it brighter on the left side. Got rid of the one bulb behind the 20mph spot so that hot spot is gone.
All back together now, only problem is since it's 15*F outside, the dash bezel was cold and brittle.. I ended up cracking it right below the odometer/trip button. Oh well, I needed a new one anyways. I'll pick another one up at the yard this weekend and hold onto it until I do my fog light setup since I will need to pull the dash panel back out again to wire in the factory fog light switch. Definitely won't be doing that until spring.
logikfive wrote:I'm not sure what you're trying to say? My car is an '01 and my mileage is accurately displayed.
Beating it only gives you temporary gratification... They go out again... This is a permanent fix.
What Im saying is if you put a 99 cluster in a 2000 car the mileage that is on the 99 cluster is what will show up IIRC since its stored in the cluster instead of the BCM like in 2k+ cars. They run a PCM/BCM combo whereas all 95-99s ran one computer.
So that could explain why the mileage didnt work on the one cluster you got.
But as I look Im realizing theyre all not from a 95-99 Sunfire since the odo is in a different place than in my car.
So ignore me Im just babbling at this point. Hahaha. Good work on the clusters.
so, did you do all this through the back side with the needles still attached?
Yep. I learned my lesson on my first Sunfire cluster not to touch the needles.. lol
Only ONE gauge had the needle pin stay in. Every other one pulled out.
I havent had problems before using my hands. lol. but get some of those panel screwdrivers I guess they're called. The litttle plastic things for interior pieces, one side has the work and the other is like a screwdriver, the fork works pretty easily/well with pulling the needles.
"A goal without a plan is just a wish"
i've had problems with swapping clusters or even just taking my good one out and putting it back in. for a bit the odometer doesn't light up but after a couple of days it turns back on. good work on the LEDs.
this is the start of my signature: have you read the
RULES yet?
my carDomain updated 6/11/10 Forged and Supercharged
hey logikfive i see that u were able to put in leds at ur own expense in ur cluster so i was wondering i have a 02 cluster and i have put in a self-lit white guage face but the needles dnt light up that well since they are still ran off of the original cluster lights. so i was wonderin is there a way that i can put a led behind each needle to give them a bit more light so they arent so hard to see at night?
Corey Christer wrote:so i was wonderin is there a way that i can put a led behind each needle to give them a bit more light so they arent so hard to see at night?
Yes, but only if you know what you're doing.
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Interior FAQ -
J-Body of Michigan -
This is a newb question but are there any clusters that will swap out with my 97 Sunfire? I like the look of the cavaliers better but not sure if they would swap out right
purplesunfire wrote:This is a newb question but are there any clusters that will swap out with my 97 Sunfire? I like the look of the cavaliers better but not sure if they would swap out right
shouldnt be to difficult hes changing his from a cavalier one to a sunfire one so it should work vise versa
purplesunfire wrote:This is a newb question but are there any clusters that will swap out with my 97 Sunfire? I like the look of the cavaliers better but not sure if they would swap out right
You can only swap with Sunfires around your year. I know 00-05 Cavalier and Sunfire clusters are interchangeable but previous years are not. I swapped my cluster to one from a '97 Z24
Thats the style i want but ill live i guess, its nothing big
